US Veterans chief resigns over healthcare dealy scandal

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President Barack Obama said that US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned over a veterans healthcare delay scandal that has embarrassed the administration, explaining Shinseki did not want to be a "distraction" as the problem was fixed.

Shinseki stepped down during a meeting with the president at the White House earlier today. Obama said he named Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson to lead the agency as he looks for a permanent replacement.

The scandal exploded earlier this month after VA doctors in Phoenix went public with allegations that some 40 veterans had died while waiting months for primary-care appointments.

On Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general confirmed in an interim report that Phoenix VA officials manipulated data to vastly understate appointment waiting times for veterans, and said the problem was "systemic" throughout the VA.